China open to joint oil exploration
November 16, 2017
Written by Cpisco
Published in Top Stories
Read: 218
APART from the 14 cooperation documents signed between President Rodrigo Duterte and People’s Republic of China Premier Li Keqiang during his two-day official visit in Manila, China is now open to joint oil and gas exploration in the contested territory in the South China Sea.
A joint Philippines-China Statement issued at the conclusion of Li’s visit said both countries “may explore means to cooperate with each other in other possible maritime activities including maritime oil and gas exploration and exploitation.” Li was the first Chinese Premier to visit the country in ten years.
The statement emphasized the activity however must be “in accordance with the respective national laws and regulations of the two countries and international law including the 1982 UNCLOS.
It also pointed out that the exploration must be carried out “without prejudice to the respective positions of the two countries on sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.”
In 2014, the Philippines suspended exploration in the disputed waters, halting two projects, as it pursued and eventually won an arbitration case involving territorial disputes with China.
Philippine Enegrgy officials have been looking forward to pursuing a long-delayed oil and gas exploration project with Chinese state-owned entity China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. (CNOOC) and a Canada-listed company in an area near disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has said the Philippine government was also looking for a “win-win solution” with other South China Sea claimants to pave the way for oil and gas exploration within contested waters.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the disputed territory.
The joint statement also said both sides further agreed to continue to actively advance consultations and negotiations on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and ensure the full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety.
Both sides recognized that the bilateral relations have achieved positive turnaround and momentum through the joint efforts of both sides.
